Prior to the early 1990s, Mozambique endured 30 years of conflict, leaving the country littered with landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). Mozambique’s landmine and ERW problem was once one of the most severe in the world. On 17 September 2015, 22 years after demining operations that began in 1993, Mozambique announced the completion of clearance operations in its territory. Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Minister Oldemiro Baloi declared the country to be free of the threat of mines following survey and clearance of more than 3,000 areas across more than 55km2 with the destruction of 86,000 antipersonnel mines.
The US Humanitarian Demining Research and Development (HD R&D) Program contributed to this success story. The HALO Trust evaluated two HD R&D Program technologies during its clearance operation; the Handheld Standoff Mine Detection System and the Orbit Screener. HALO completed clearing their assigned suspected hazardous areas by the end of 2014, reporting that they would not have met their schedule without the use of these two systems.

The Orbital Action Screening Plant Model 68 efficiently sifts through a variety of soil types for landmines of all sizes. Material is loaded into the 1.8 cubic-yard hopper and fed into a rotating and tilted screen of appropriate size that quickly separates large and/or light items from soil. The highly portable and user friendly Orbit Screen is highly resistant to plugging with plastic, paper, sticks, and vegetation.
Distribution Statement A: Approved for public release.

The Handheld Standoff Mine Detection System (HSTAMIDS) is the U.S. Army`s AN/PSS-14 dual sensor, handheld mine detector that combines an electromagnetic induction sensor and ground penetrating radar (GPR) to detect landmines. The addition of the GPR significantly reduces the detector`s false alarm rate and the time the operator spends investigating clutter, increasing the operator`s speed and effectiveness. The HD R&D program also developed the HSTAMIDS F3S variant which incorporates a more sensitive metal detector to improve performance against deeply buried low metal anti-personnel and anti-tank mines.
Distribution Statement A: Approved for public release.